Focusing on 'maximising and protecting the value of content', the conference is a timely event for producers getting their product to market.
Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to the identification, trade and protection of rights to digital assets. Once considered only to be a question of security and encryption, as a means of locking content and preventing unauthorised copying, DRM is now a matter of enabling and enforcing the much broader range of usage rights associated with the new capabilities of digital delivery.
Whereas in the past copying and distribution were separate acts the distribution of information in digital form now inevitably involves a copy of that information being produced. This proliferation of content coupled with the relative ease with which information in digital form can be modified and redistributed means that content owners and providers now face radical new challenges in identifying, describing and tracking their digital assets. Overcoming these challenges and safeguarding legitimate access to digital content is the role of a new generation of DRM.
The rapid and continuing rise of digital media is transforming how consumers access content. Worldwide the industry is currently valued at some $230 billion with the Irish Digital Media Industry well on-track to exceed the recent Enterprise Ireland target of €762 million by 2007. Together with new revenue streams and business opportunities, however, digital technology is also creating significant new pitfalls for those involved in traditional as well as ‘new’ media publishing.
High-profile cases of copyright infringement such as the NAPSTER episode highlight technology’s potential to considerably out-manoeuvre artist’s and publisher’s ability to adequately protect their own Intellectual Property (IP). Not only do such episodes impact upon the specific publishers and media sectors involved, however, they also add to a wider industry concern which is increasingly preventing content owners from distributing premium content and maximising the revenue inherent in their IP.
As such, finding DRM solutions is fast becoming the fundamental challenge to the continuing delivery of digital media’s revolutionary promise. If the industry in Ireland is to fulfil its potential and exceed the target set by Enterprise Ireland then it is essential that both ‘new’ and traditional Irish media owners continue to operate within a legal and technological framework which protects IP rights and encourages the distribution of premium digital content.
Speakers include Rod Stoneman of the Irish Film Board, Philip Flynn, newly appointed Chair of the Digital Hub, Robert Stevenson of Treasure Island Music, John Menton of Arthur Cox, Paul Lambert of Matheson Ormsby Prentice, Sean Murtagh of IRMA and George Fraser, Real Networks.
Further information on speakers and the programme for the day is available at www.digitalmediaintelligence.com
